A former boarding school teacher has been jailed for 12 years for sexual offences against pupils at two schools.

Simon Ball, 42, was arrested in February last year after reports were made to police that he had been having a sexual relationship with a teenage student at Kimbolton School in Cambridgeshire.

An investigation was launched which uncovered further allegations of a similar nature when he was a teacher at his previous school, Giggleswick Senior School in North Yorkshire.

It was alleged that in 2004, Ball had sexual relations with a teenage girl, and had committed other offences including a historical rape of another teenager and sexual assault on a female pupil.

He was arrested in 2004 on suspicion of sexual offences but was released with no further action.

Ball, who was given a warning in 2001 for ‘inappropriate behaviour’, left the school to work at Kimbolton while the investigation was taking place into allegations made against him.

The Giggleswick investigation was subsequently reopened after the allegations were made by the Kimbolton student last year.

At Peterborough Magistrates’ Court in May Ball pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual activity with a girl aged 13-17 while in a position of trust, one count of making indecent photographs of a child and one count of possessing indecent photographs of a child relating to the relationship he had been having with the student from Kimbolton, but denied the remaining nine charges against him relating to students from Giggleswick.

On Thursday (November 24), following a nine-day trial at Peterborough Crown Court, he was found guilty of four counts of engaging in sexual activity whilse in a position of trust in relation to two of the victims from Giggleswick School and one count of indecent assault in relation to the third victim from Giggleswick. The jury were unable to reach a verdict on the remaining four counts.

Today (Tuesday, November 29), he appeared at the same court and was sentenced to a total of 12 years in prison. He has also been issued a life-long Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for life. He must also pay a victim surcharge of £120 to each of his four victims.

Detective Constable Hayley Kendall, from the Child Abuse Investigation and Safeguarding Unit (CAISU), said: “These were predatory offences committed against vulnerable, young people by a person in a position of trust, whose duty was supposed to be to protect and safeguard those in his care.

“This investigation could not have begun without the bravery of the first victim coming forward and, subsequently, the further victims who attended court to give evidence.

“No matter how long ago these crimes occur, they can have a devastating and long lasting effect on victims. I hope that this result offers them some form of closure and today’s sentence will encourage others to report abuse, whether historical or current, to the police.”

The children’s charity NSPCC said: “Simon Ball abused a position of trust to exploit and manipulate young girls and the sentence he’s received reflects the seriousness of his crimes.

“As a teacher, Ball had a duty of care to his pupils. Instead, he pursued a campaign of abuse that lasted more than a decade.”

The spokesman said it “remains a cause for serious concern” that Ball was able to continue his abuse despite an investigation.